Nurse Practitioner Clinical Settings Key to Delivery of Patient-Centered Care

It’s long been understood that care that respects and integrates the wants, needs, and preferences of patients results in higher ratings of satisfaction and improved health outcomes. Yet, several barriers still often impede the delivery of patient-centered care. A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) shows that organizational supports for nurse practitioners (NPs) can enhance their ability to deliver patient-centered care.

Penn Nursing Podcast Special Edition: COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic grows across the US, Penn Nursing’s Alison Buttenheim, PhD, a public health researcher and behavioral epidemiologist and Penn Medicine’s Carolyn Cannuscio, ScD, a social epidemiologist, join Amplify Nursing to discuss the coronavirus – what we need to know, what we need to do to help lessen the spread, and what we should expect in the days and weeks to come. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Firearm Violence Solutions from a Public Health Perspective

While firearm violence is a major public health challenge in the United States, it has often been considered a law enforcement issue with only law enforcement solutions. An article by two University of Pennsylvania researchers advises that treating firearm violence as a disease and taking a public health approach to prevention and treatment can help reduce its harms.

Penn Nursing Ranked #1 Nursing School for Fifth Straight Year

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) continues its streak of being the number one nursing school in the world according to a recent ranking by QS World University. The rankings highlight the world’s top universities in 48 different subject areas based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and research impact. This is the fifth consecutive year that Penn Nursing has taken the top spot.

PA School Nurses on the Frontlines of the Opioid Epidemic

At the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), researchers conducted an online survey of 362 Pennsylvania school nurses (elementary, middle, and high school) to better understand how they have a supply, administer, and perceive storing naloxone in their schools. The results illustrate that though many nurses have a supply of naloxone in their school, important barriers to access and use of this life-saving medication still exist.

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, Appointed Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Professor of Nursing, will be the next Chair of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) Department of Family and Community Health, effective July 1, 2020.

A Brain Link to STI/HIV Sexual Risk: Young women with Low Condom Use During Sex Find Visual Sexual Cues Less Pleasant and Less Evocative

Data show that young adult women in the United States have high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that increase their risk of HIV. Though epidemiologic and behavioral factors for risk have been studied, we know very little about brain factors that may be linked to STI/ HIV sexual risk.

Daron G. Ferris, MD, to Receive 2020 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health

Daron G. Ferris, MD, the Founder of CerviCusco, will receive the 2020 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for his dedication to cervical cancer prevention among the indigenous women in Cusco, Peru. Ferris created CerviCusco, a non-profit organization that ensures all women, including those with limited economic resources, have access to high quality and affordable health education and care, including screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer. Ferris will receive the award – which comes with a $100,000 cash prize – during an event at the University of Pennsylvania on April 23, 2020.

2020 is the Year of the Nurse and Midwife

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared 2020 to be the Year of the Nurse and Midwife and Penn Nursing is joining in on the celebration. We want to help the public – in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond – better understand the impact these professions have on health and health care.

Opioid Self-management Practices and Potential Safety Risks Among Patients with Cancer

Despite a national opioid crisis, prescribed opioid analgesics remain a viable option for pain management for patients with cancer. In effect, patients with cancer represent one of the few groups excluded from most state legislation and policy initiatives on prescribing opioids as well as from opioid stewardship programs of many health systems. However, little is understood about oncology patients’ opioid self-management practices and potential safety risk that may stem from these practices.

€4 Million Grant to Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing of Health Professionals and Patient Safety

The largest initiative to improve hospital work environments to date has officially begun, with an award of 4 million Euros from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program. The grant will support the international partnership of some of the world’s leading Universities led by KU Leuven and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research.

NEW ONLINE CURRICULUM EQUIPS NURSES TO LEAD INNOVATION BY OFFERING TRAINING IN DESIGN THINKING

– Nurses make up the largest and most trusted group of health care professionals, work on the front lines of the health care system, and are frequently called on to devise on-the-spot solutions to urgent health care problems, yet most nurses receive little or no training in how to effectively address these design challenges. An online curriculum called Design Thinking for Health (www.designthinkingforhealth.org) being launched today will support creative, action-oriented thinking and methodological problem solving by nursing innovators – including students, bedside nurses, clinical leaders, and researchers – by providing access to Design Thinking techniques with a focus on nursing-relevant issues.

Fighting the HIV Epidemic

Stigma is an important contributor to the continued HIV epidemic in the United States. While pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a medication that can be taken to prevent HIV infection, previous research has shown that a barrier preventing gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men from using PrEP is fear that partners, family members or community members would believe that those who use PrEP are HIV infected. Less is known, however, about these factors among women.

Initiating Breastfeeding in Vulnerable Infants

The benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child are well-recognized, including for late preterm infants (LPI). But because LPI do not have fully developed brains, they may experience difficulties latching and/or sustaining a latch on the breast to have milk transfer occur. This means that these infants are at high risk for formula supplementation and/or discontinuation of breastfeeding.

How to Successfully Recruit Minority Adolescents for STI/HIV Prevention Research

Disparities in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV between Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino adolescents and their white counterparts are well documented. Culturally and developmentally appropriate efforts targeted to help these youth establish healthy practices to lower their risk of sexually transmitted infections are warranted. However, such interventions present unique challenges in recruiting and retaining research participants.